


Glacial Gazes

by langmaor



Category: 999: Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors - Fandom, Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Profanity, Sharing Clothes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 03:58:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11820756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/langmaor/pseuds/langmaor
Summary: The blueness of his lips and his fingernails told Junpei everything he needed to know - Santa needed warmth, and he needed it now.





	Glacial Gazes

**Author's Note:**

> A little elaboration on the part of the story that takes place in the freezer of the kitchen. No spoilers for future games. There are implications for the ending of this particular game though, so I recommend not reading this until you finish the game. Oh, and for the purposes of this fic we'll say Junpei's fashion sense isn't a hot mess and he's wearing a long-sleeved jacket. Now, onward!

Junpei twisted the handle of the locker in front of him, surveying its meager contents. The cold of his surroundings was rapidly seeping into his clothes, his shoes, his bones. The dryness of the air wasn't helping at all either. From the corner of his eye, he saw June draw her scarf more snugly around herself, and Santa was clenching his jaw shut in an attempt to hide his chattering teeth.

Bringing his attention back to the task at hand, Junpei picked up the conspicuously placed chunk of meat. Looking at it only brought forth an uncomfortable realization that if they didn't get out of here soon, they would end up pretty much the same way.

"Hey," Santa barked out, breaking his train of thought. "Junpei, look at this."

"A cellar!" June exclaimed.

Indeed, there was a compartment under the floor, a little warmer to the touch than the freezer itself. A quick look showed that there were indeed a few things Junpei could put to use in there along with plenty of useless odds and ends, but it looked like there was somethng a little more pressing to deal with first.

"Santa, are you okay?"

Santa's already pale skin appeared almost ghost-like, and his lips had a bluish tint to them. Junpei already know his teeth were chattering, and all in all; Santa did not paint a pretty picture.

"Give me your hand," Junpei commanded, and grabbed a hold of it before Santa could reply.

"H-Hey, what's the big deal!"

As he had suspected, Santa's fingernails were turning a strange, bluish colour. Junpei had heard about cyanosis, and even with his nonexistent medical knowledge he knew it was never a good sign.

"Shit. This isn't good. Santa, you..."

Junpei's eyes scanned the room wildly, looking for anything at all that would help warm up the man. But this was a freezer... and June was cold enough as she was. Junpei realized there was only one course of action. Accordingly, he unzipped his jacket, and held the ends open.

"Get in, and quick," Junpei said.

"Wh-" was all Santa got out, before Junpei got tired of waiting and went over to him. He'd be damned if he was going to get any more colder than was absolutely necessary.

"Come on, just put your hands in. You're going to freeze if you don't and I'm not going to carry you out of here, alright? Just do it," he supplemented.

"That's so kind of you, Jumpy! I think it's a great idea," June said, pointedly addressing Santa.

The cold had taken all the fight out of him, apparently, because he chose to throw a glare in both their directions and let out a frustrated growl before moving against Junpei and sliding his hands through the sleeves, behind Junpei's.

"What're you waiting for, dumbass?" he questioned. It was a little funny, because he couldn't actually face Junpei as he said it, so it looked like he was talking to himself.

"Oh, right," Junpei said, moving his hands carefully and zipping his jacket back up. "Alright, let's get back to work. June, can you just hand me that rope down there..."

For all his calm demeanour, Junpei was trying his hardest not to yelp at how goddamn cold Santa was. Apparently he had been doing an absurdly excellent job of hiding it, but it felt like Junpei was cuddling a pillow made of ice.

On the other end, Santa let out a sigh, watching the clouds of his breath dissolve in front of him. He couldn't deny that this was immensely and immediately better than a few minutes ago - already he could feel the blood pumping steadily to his limbs again - but he'd be damned if he let Junpei know that. He shook his head, trying to clear the distractions from his mind, only to collide against Junpei's collarbone.

Junpei chuckled, and Santa could feel it reverberate through him. He almost jumped.

Junpei cleared his throat and spoke before the situation could get any worse. "Thanks, June. Santa, I need you to smash this dry ice, okay? Grind it to bits."

"Me?" Santa questioned.

"Well, both of us, I guess. I can't really use my hands if you don't use yours with mine."

"Yeah," Santa realized, pleased to imagine what Junpei might be looking like - some kind of four-handed, two-headed creature. "That makes sense. Okay, let's do it."

In a few minutes, the dry ice they'd found had been crushed and securely stuffed inside a bottle.

Junpei rubbed his chin, an old habit he had. Of course, this meant that Santa's hand was dragged up along with his, and the man was having none of that. He dragged both their hands right back down, causing Junpei to grumble under his breath, which Santa also heard.

He sighed. "Okay, this looks good. June, do you think you could tie the bottle up with this rope?"

"Leave it to me," she said, and got to work immediately. Looking at her, so serious, so solemn, Santa felt a wave of melancholy wash over him.

"Great work," Junpei said, inspecting the contraption. "Alright, now we're going to tie this to the knob, alright? Quickly."

"We know," Santa rolled his eyes. "June, wait for us down in the cellar."

She nodded and dropped herself down into it.

The two of them secured the bottle, making sure it had plenty of water flowing on it before making a beeline for the cellar where June was waiting, ready to shut the lid.

Santa scowled as their height difference caused the impact of their landing to be harsher on his feet than Junpei's, but got ready for his next task regardless. He held the piece of ice through Junpei's jacket, making sure to account for the weight of the man's arm as well when he aimed and threw it squarely at the bottle.

June wasted no time in pulling the door down, shielding them from the coming explosion. Just as expected they heard a thunderous bang and the sound of several stones of ice colliding with the door above their heads. All three of them shuddered to think what it would have been like to be standing there in the open.

"I think it's safe now," June pronounced.

"Yeah. Let's go see," Junpei said.

June pushed open the door, and they only had to stick their heads out a little to see that their ruse had indeed succeeded; the block of ice that had been obstructing their exit was now gone. All three of them breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Come on, you two, or it's just going to freeze back again," Santa warned.

"Right," Junpei said, scrambling to get out of the cellar, but only tangling himself up in Santa's hands and feet.

"Stop moving around so much! June, you go get the door open, alright? Junpei and I need to... coordinate... our movements."

"Got it," she nodded, and scampered away to the door.

"Junpei, put your hands on the edge. On the count of 3, we go over it."

"Okay. Ready when you are."

When they made it out, June was on the other side of the door, holding it open for them. The comparative warmth of the kitchen felt wonderful, and Junpei sank down on the chair nearest the only source of heat in the room, the grill.

"Did I miss something? When did you two get so close, hm?" Lotus questioned, from a seat a little farther away from theirs. Even as Junpei's anger rose at how relaxed she appeared, it didn't take him long to figure out what they looked like to a stranger.

Junpei was seated on the chair, and Santa was quite plainly perched on his lap as they were both breathing a little heavier than usual, taking in gulps of warm air. Their time plastered to one another had caused Santa to drop his guard enough for him to rest his body against Junpei's. Not to mention how they were literally wearing one jacket.

Both of them had the epiphany at the same time.

While Santa chose to lash out at Lotus with his words first, Junpei moved his hands, fumbling for the zipper.

"Lotus, you fuck! Go look at something else! And you, Junpei, what do you think you're doing?"

"Eh?" Junpei froze, surprised to find Santa's ire directed at him.

"We only got out a minute ago! I need at least five to thaw out, so just sit tight, dude." Santa complained.

"Wow," Junpei said. He never thought he'd see Santa acting like such a petulant child. Behind Lotus, June giggled.

"And what are you laughing at, little miss?"

Junpei could feel himself getting defensive for June's sake, already getting ready to speak on her behalf. It was an instinctive reaction for him, but...

June broke out into peals of laughter instead of clamming up uncomfortably as Junpei had expected her to do, or as she usually did with strangers.

"It's nice to see you two get along so well," she said, in the midst of her mirth.

"Hey now..." Santa began, without any real hostility, but broke off mid-sentence to just stare at June. A fond smile spread across his face as he watched June just laugh. It was like he had forgotten that they were on a sinking ship, doomed for death.

Lotus came their way again, crinkling her nose and sniffing the air.

"Is that something burning I smell?" she said.

"Huh?" Confused, Junpei and June looked around.

Santa did the same thing, until he saw it.

"Junpei, you idiot, the pork! It's the _pork!_ "

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed that! This idea's been stuck in my head ever since I played it in the game. Get you a man who's freezing half to death and will still tell you how to make bombs from dry ice! I didn't really have a huge message to convey with this fic, just wanted to write these two interacting a little.
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment telling me what you thought!


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